


Midsummer Night's Lover

by kishidanchougoroshi



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Romance, M/M, Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-13 01:49:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16007759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kishidanchougoroshi/pseuds/kishidanchougoroshi
Summary: Losing a political battle was probably the hardest part of a politician’s life and it was happening to Sho. He was having hard physiological burden until his secretary managed to register him to a calligraphy and cooking class.





	Midsummer Night's Lover

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know much about politics and how the politicians work, so forgive me for the mistakes. This fic is unbetaed and since English is not my mother tongue, there are many error grammars and unfit choice of words or phrases, sorry for that. 
> 
> Another note: The title is taken from Arashi’s song from Natsu no Hayate single.

Losing a political battle was probably the hardest part of a politician’s life. Watching the election winner on television had become a torture, reading their victory news on printed and electronic media was another hell. That was exactly what happened to Sho. He always considered that politicians were a bunch of idiots before really joining them. His father wanted him to become a successor for the party he was leading and Sho’s first challenge was to win the major vote for a seat in the local parliament of Chiba.

After months of non-stop campaigns and many sleepless nights the election finally held a week ago. His political rival, Ikuta Toma won the seat with only slight margin. Toma’s smile on their last meeting haunted Sho for days, he couldn’t believe that he lost to a man as stupid as Toma. The defeat finally affected Sho; he lost his appetite, he lost his confidence, he lost his will to work. All he did was locking himself inside his apartment room while looking outside the window for hours.

His father told him that it was normal; many politicians went through hard time after their defeat. They only needed time to get back to normal. But after three weeks passed; Sho was still in his current condition.

The only visitor to his room was his secretary, Ninomiya Kazunari. He had given up in persuading Sho to eat properly or to take regular bath since Sho hadn’t moved from his spot for days now. Sho had lost track of day and date; he hadn’t touched his phone for weeks, it was out of battery and sadly sprawled on the floor. He didn’t watch TV, he didn’t even glance at the newspapers Nino had brought for him.

“Sho-chan,” Nino waved his hand in front of Sho’s face to gain his attention. “I bring you curry rice, my mother made extra portion for me, I presume you want to try it.”

Sho needed a few seconds to get what Nino said; his brain seemed to struggle hard enough just to catch a simple sentence.

“What day is it?” Sho asked Nino.

“Tuesday, August 21st,” Nino answered.

Sho glanced at the calendar on the wall, how come it was August 21st? It was still July inside his head. He watched Nino as he prepared the curry rice for him. Sho finally realized how hungry he was, he took the curry from Nino’s hand and ate in quickly. His stomach protested with the sudden amount of food; he grimaced and returned the container to Nino. The man shouldn’t have given him something like curry rice after days of almost empty stomach.

“I’ve found a way to make you feel better,” Nino said, taking the container from Sho’s hand and stuffed it carefully inside a paper bag.

“I don’t want to attend any political events, Nino. Not anymore.”

“Easy, Sho-chan,” Nino said, fishing a clear file from his briefcase. “I’ve talked with your father, he basically agreed what’s the best for you,” he handed the clear file to Sho. He drew the papers inside it and found two portfolios of cooking and calligraphy teachers. He moved his gaze from the paper to Nino with a questioning look.

“What is it?”

“Soul therapy,” Nino answered.

“How can these classes help me?”

Nino cleared his throat before explaining, “I’ve searched about them, their reputation is among the best. They have helped many people to cope with their emotional problem, you know, people who suffer from great loss or they who attempt suicide. I found out that they also helped many politicians before this, so I think it’s a great way to cure you.”

“I’m not insane, Nino.”

“You’re not,” Nino cut him impatiently. “But you are experiencing the first defeat in your life which shocked you more than anything.”

Sho massaged his temple; Nino had known him since senior high school and he was right about Sho who never experienced any defeats. He had been always the best in his batch, he was the prefect and on his third year, he became the head of students committee. After graduating high school, he got accepted in one of the most prestigious universities in Japan. He finished his thesis faster than scheduled and upon graduating, he joined his father’s party as a young politician. For more than ten years, Sho had become his father’s right hand in the party. Everything seemed so well and perfect, until he made a debut as a parliament member, until three weeks ago when he failed for the first time in his life. 

“I have registered your name to their classes, it’s private, so you don’t need to meet someone else,” Nino said, fishing another file from his briefcase.

“Wait,” Sho said. “You can’t do that without informing me beforehand.”

“I’m informing you now,” Nino shrugged. “You need a distraction, Sho-chan. You can’t hide in this room forever.”

Sho inhaled deeply; Nino had a point there, but he wasn’t ready to face the world again. He needed some time alone, without the curious gaze from the people around him.

“So, these guys,” Sho checked the first profile. “Ohno Satoshi and Matsumoto Jun are some kind of psychiatry?” 

“You can say that,” Nino answered while sorting something on his folder. “You’ll find out once you meet them.”

“What if I don’t want to go?” Sho challenged Nino.

“I’ll drag you out, with the help of your father’s bodyguard, how’s that sound?” Nino said with the most sadistic face he could make.

***

Sho’s first appointment was to calligraphy class; Nino picked him up at nine in the morning. Sho had spent an hour to make himself presentable after three weeks without proper grooming. His face was sunken and very pale due to lack of food and sunshine. His clothes had become too loose for him, but it wasn’t his utmost concern right now.

Ohno Satoshi’s class was located in the southern part of Tokyo – an old traditional Japanese house. The neighboring area was so quiet as if nobody was living there. Ohno Satoshi was a 35-year-old man whose appearance was as calm as lake. He welcomed Sho and Nino without the hint that he knew who Sho was.

“Welcome to my humble place,” he said. His voice was nearly like a whisper; perhaps the quiet environment could make someone lose their will to speak. Ohno wore a hakama which fit him nicely; he was short and thin – even shorter than Nino by a few inches. A childish nuance still remained on his rounded face, his hair was cut short, his skin was suntanned, but those things didn’t reduce his natural charm. Sho had already found this man attractive on the first sight.

“I’m looking forward to work with you, sensei,” Sho said, bowing low at Ohno, like what he always did on his political meetings.

Ohno’s eyes locked at him when Sho tilted his head, his lips quirked in soft smile. He then looked at Nino.

“You can enjoy our homemade tea and cakes, meanwhile Sho-kun has his class.”

Sho-kun? Nobody called him by his name on their first meeting, but the way Ohno mentioned his name had given Sho something warmth in his chest. He refrained himself from complaining and followed Ohno to the other room where they would have their first lesson.

“Have you learned Japanese calligraphy before?” Ohno asked.

“No,” Sho answered briefly.

“Can you write something, the first kanji character which appear in your head,” Ohno said, placing the paper and the brush in front of Sho.

Sho took the brush lazily and randomly wrote his name on the paper. Ohno looked at it with a plain face, he gave Sho another blank paper and told him to write the same kanji. After his third papers, the man finally made a comment.

“You’re too self-centered,” he said blatantly.

Sho pouted his lips; Nino had said the same comments to him over and over; but hearing it from the man he met for the first time had sent a tie knots to his stomach.

“I can’t suddenly change myself to a more charismatic character, sensei,” he said after a series of silence.

Ohno seemed not to be bothered by his attitude, he smiled weakly at Sho and took his right hand.

“Relax, let me teach you how to control your emotion while you move your brush over the canvas.”

Ohno’s fingers were thin, long, and surprisingly smooth. Sho actually hated skin ship, but it staggered him that he didn’t mind Ohno’s touch on his skin. Well, he was here for a lesson, Ohno needed to touch him in order to show him how to move his brush.

“Do you see the difference?” Ohno asked when they finished brushing the brush over the paper.

Sho looked at the kanji from different angle, he wasn’t an expert in calligraphy, but he could spot the slight transformation in his work.

“It looks softer?” he confirmed to Ohno.

“Exactly,” Ohno replied. “My duty is to soften your psychological condition, Sho-kun.”

“Did Nino tell you everything?” Sho asked, feeling exposed and he didn’t like it.

Ohno shook his head. “I know nothing, but I can tell from your way of writing those kanjis,” he gestured to three pieces of paper on the other side of the table. “You’re experiencing turbulence in your life.”

***

“Nino, he’s a paranormal,” Sho said as they were inside the car, heading back to Sho’s apartment.

“Really?” Nino replied. “What did he tell you?”

“That my life is in turbulence condition,” Sho mumbled, repeating Ohno’s words.

“Interesting,” Nino said. “He said the truth. For your information, he has no electronic devices and he doesn’t read newspapers. He basically knows nothing of the recent news, let alone your case. I communicate with him through classic phones.”

“I wish I could have a life like that,” Sho said, leaning deeper to the passenger seat. He had just realized that he was tired of this world, the political world was too much.

“What about the other sensei?” Sho asked.

“Matsumoto Jun,” Nino said. “He’s the opposite. He is fashionable, knowledgeable, he has browsed about you when I registered your name to his class. He probably knows the brand of your underwear.”

“He seems more frightening than Ohno-sensei,” Sho mumbled.

“You’ll see.”

*** 

Matsumoto Jun’s place was located at one of Tokyo’s skyscrapers; the cook wore a checked shirt under his apron, a pair of jeans and sneakers which looked comfortable. His appearance somehow fit Sho’s imagination, he looked like one of the fashion magazine models Sho often saw on Nino’s desk. In contrast with Ohno’s suntanned skin, Matsumoto was fair and rather pale. His hair was combed nicely which fit the shape of his face perfectly. He was tall and had broad shoulders along with muscular arms.

“Welcome, Sakurai-san, Ninomiya-san,” he greeted them with official Japanese.

“Thanks for having us, Matsumoto-san,” Nino replied with a business-smile on his lips.

“It’s an honor for me,” Matsumoto answered.

His voice was deep and his smile was so broad, a kind of smile Sho rarely seen in his political environment.

“Please take care of Sakurai-san, I believe you’re the right person to do that,” Nino said.

“You’re exaggerating,” Matsumoto waved it off. “Let’s start then.”

He led them to the cooking class with long tables and many electric stoves. A list of menus was attached on the wall, perhaps it was used for the previous classes. Various kind of kitchen utensils were lined up at the rounded table in the middle of the room; Sho didn’t even know half of their names. Cooking magazines were piled up on the table against the wall; there was also a poster on the wall with Matsumoto’s photo – it seemed that he was featured in a special edition in one of those magazines.

“Since you’re a beginner, we’ll learn the basic today,” Matsumoto said cheerfully.

“That’ll help,” Sho spoke for the first time. Writing kanji character in Ohno’s class seemed less-stressing than trying to make a plate of pasta.

“I’ll work on a few things while you learn how to cook,” Nino said, bowing slightly at Matsumoto and Sho.

“Nice secretary,” Matsumoto commented as Nino disappeared. “So, what’s your favorite food?” he asked, looking very excited.

Sho was sure that Matsumoto only asked him for a chit chat. If Nino was right, this guy must have already browsed everything about him.

“I basically love everything,” Sho answered.

“Alright, let’s make curry rice today,” Matsumoto replied. “All you have to do is cutting the carrots and onions.”

Matsumoto handed him an apron and led him to a huge refrigerator on the corner of the room. He took two carrots and two big onions and gave them to Sho. “Try to cut them in the same size,” he said.

“O-okay,” Sho looked at the ingredients with doubt. Cutting them seemed simple, but trying to do it in the same size was another story.

Matsumoto showed him the basic and asked Sho to do it. He patiently watched Sho while repairing Sho’s grip on the knife with a light touch, just like what Ohno did to him on their first meeting. Matsumoto’s fingers touched him swiftly – like feathers – meanwhile he gave Sho advice with his deep voice. Sho enjoyed it; it had been a long time since someone gave him direction and not the other way around. He was always the one who gave commands, who always on the leading role. He needed this kind of session once in while.

Sho could say that this was his first time to cook. He never stepped towards his kitchen; everything was already handled by Nino. His three-meals-a-day was delivered to his office or arranged with Uber-eat on weekends. He basically worked on weekends, so Nino would have the meals delivered to his office. For him, cooking was a foreign activity, something which didn’t relate to his life.

“I’ll cut the potatoes,” Matsumoto said.

He returned with three potatoes in his hands, took a cutting board from the drawer and stood beside Sho to work on his part.

“I rarely have male participant in my class,” Matsumoto said while cutting the potatoes with a surprising speed.

“I can see that,” Sho answered. “I mean, you must be very popular among ladies.”

Matsumoto chuckled. “It’s not always fun, you know. Some of them try to invite me to bed.”

Sho felt his cheeks reddened, he never thought that Matsumoto would tell him such thing on their first meeting.

“I denied it, of course,” Matsumoto continued quickly as he saw Sho’s expression.

“Oh…” that was all Sho could say.

The curry was success, they made three portions and ate together after the session.

“This probably the best curry I’ve ever have,” Nino said with full mouth.

“Matsumoto-sensei made it. If it was me, you’ll be poisoned by now,” Sho mumbled which gained a laughter from Matsumoto.

“Just call me Jun,” Matsumoto said while looking at Sho with meaningful gaze.

“It’s a nice class, see you next week, Sakurai-san,” Jun said when they were about to leave the class.

Sho felt content for the first time in months; he could forget the political world when he was in Ohno and Jun’s class. The magical feelings that he didn’t say out loud to Nino, but perhaps, Nino had already known it from the way he smiled.

***

On the second week, Ohno taught him the basic technique on how to create an artistic calligraphy. It looked easy when Ohno did it, but Sho couldn’t copy it, no matter how hard he tried. He kept on writing funny shapes and at the end of their lesson, Ohno gave him a soft pat on his shoulder and encouraged him that everyone had a hard time on their first trial in calligraphy. Perhaps what Ohno really wanted to say was Sho had no talent in a really polite way.

“Let’s drink some tea,” Ohno said, guiding Sho to the other room with tatami floor and a small Japanese table in the middle.

Nino had changed the schedule for Jun’s class, so Sho would have some extra time for Ohno’s lesson. He wasn’t sure whether Ohno would want a company after the session, but his invitation to have some tea had answered Sho’s question.

Ohno brought the tray with a traditional kettle and two cups on it; he poured the tea for Sho. His movement reminded Sho of a main character in historical movie he watched a long time ago. This man looked like he was coming from different time dimension; as if he was transferred here from Edo Period.

“I bought these sweets from nearby shop, I hope you like it,” he said, gesturing to Sho to drink his tea and to eat of the Japanese traditional sweets.

“Thanks,” he said while taking the red beans mochi.

“Are you feeling better?” Ohno asked.

Sho nodded.

“I’m hopeless in art, though.”

Ohno chuckled.

“I’m not teaching you to become an artist, I’m here to heal your turmoil soul,” Ohno said calmly.

Sho smiled, nobody would have said that to him. He was right, Ohno was a paranormal with supernatural power who could heal someone only by looking at his serene face. Half of him wanted to stay here, at Ohno’s place, no phone call, no television, no internet.

“When did you begin this job, sensei?” Sho asked.

Ohno needed a couple of seconds before answering Sho’s question. He seemed to try collecting his old memories.

“Around ten years ago,” Ohno answered.

“That’s quite a long time,” Sho commented.

“I was a salaryman before that,” Ohno continued with a nostalgic expression on his face.

“You what?” Sho almost choked on his tea. He couldn’t picture Ohno in suits and tie with a briefcase in his hand.

“I had been working for three years and I figured it out that the job wasn’t for me,” he gave Sho a meaningful look. “When you feel that it’s too much to handle, it’s better quit and start doing what you like.”

The words slapped Sho. He began to think whether he really liked this political stuff on the way back to his apartment. What he really liked? Delivering a speech? Convincing his political comrade? Arranging the strategy to win the election?

Came to think about it, he was always the best in public speaking. He was chosen as the representative for his batch in the graduation ceremony in order to deliver a speech. His friends always asked him to make a speech for their weddings.

“Nino, what if I become a newscaster?”

“Are you nuts?” Nino answered immediately, shaking his head. “That will be a headline for weeks. A politician escapes from the political turmoil to become a newscaster. That’s stupid, Sho-chan. Besides, do you think your father will let you do that?”

Sho sank deeper in the passenger seat, closing his eyes. It wouldn’t be easy for him to change his career path. His father wanted him to become a successor for his party; he wouldn’t let Sho leave the party just to become a caster.

“You’re right, I think I’m nuts,” Sho inhaled deeply, running his fingers through his hair. 

***

The second lesson with Jun was making a bowl of oyakodon; it was an easy cooking, really, if Jun didn’t keep on distracting Sho’s concentration. Jun didn’t know how his handsomeness affected Sho (or maybe he knew it). It was different from what Sho felt when he was attending Ohno’s class. When Ohno could calm his nerves and made him feel like he was in different time flow, Jun was the opposite. He made Sho restless, he made Sho do his best.

Jun was wearing a simple dark blue shirt under his green apron today; it was a usual outfit for a cook, but Sho found it very attracting and somehow, erotic. He tried to push away the last thought, it wasn’t the right time to think about something erotic – he was here to cook.

“All you need is to measure the ingredients properly in order to get the same flavor,” Jun said while handing him a digital scale to use.

“Alright,” Sho replied, accidentally touched Jun’s hand when he took it.

Jun’s lips quirked into a smile as Sho pulled away his hand quickly. The touching-hands incident happened a few times during their two hours lesson, but it seemed that Jun didn’t mind it. He even took Sho’s hand on purpose when he adjusted Sho’s grip on the spoon.

“Try it,” Jun said, holding a spoon in his hand.

Sho was about to take it, but Jun indicated that he wanted to feed Sho. It was embarrassing, but they were utterly alone, nobody would make fun of him. Jun brought the spoon closer to Sho’s mouth and the latter decided to forget his pride for a while. He opened his mouth while looking at Jun’s face; the man was smiling broadly, but it still left the shyness – something beyond Sho’s understanding.

“It’s good,” Sho said as he tasted the oyakodon.

“You can cook, Sho-san,” Jun beamed.

Sho had just realized that Jun started calling him by his first name and it didn’t bother him, he loved the sound of it.

“It surprises me,” Sho said. “The sensei is too good, I presume.”

Jun chuckled as he heard it. The sound of his small laughter had sent a prickle to Sho’s stomach. It healed him in a unique way, he felt accepted and appreciated.

“Where is Nino-san?” Jun asked as he divided the oyakodon into two bowls.

“He’s in the office, finishing a few stuffs,” Sho answered.

“Did you take Ohno-san’s class as well?” Jun asked randomly.

“Er-, yes,” Sho answered, confused.

“Sorry,” Jun said. “Ohno-san and I work under the same network. I accidentally found your name on the list, so I guess…”

“It’s okay,” Sho waved it off.

The fact that Jun and Ohno knew each other didn’t really surprise him. He had guessed it since he read the portfolio Nino had provided for him. The traditional-oriented-man and a fashionable cook; somehow, he couldn’t picture Ohno and Jun as friends.

“I sometimes join his class,” Jun said with a weak smile on his lips. “He’s a good sensei, you know. It feels like we’re in different dimension when we’re there.”

“You’re right,” Sho agreed. “What if we go together next week?”

The words passed his lips automatically; he said it without really thinking about it. He was about to apologize and was about to tell Jun that he wasn’t serious when the man nodded.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Jun said. “I’m free on Monday anyway. We can bring him his favorite Japanese sweets and have tea together.”

The prospect of spending a Monday afternoon with Jun and Ohno boosted Sho’s mood for the rest of the week. He had started to read the documents Nino brought him and checked his emails which were left unopened for months.

“Something good happened?” Nino asked, putting the coffee cup on Sho’s table, his eyes glanced to Sho’s computer and a pile of documents he had finished reading.

“You can say so,” Sho replied, taking the cup and sipped the hot coffee carefully.

“What is it? Did Matsumoto Jun kiss you on your last lesson?”

Sho almost spurted the coffee to his computer screen when he heard Nino’s blatant question. Sometimes, Nino just knew the right thing to say which made Sho awkward.

“I leave it to your imagination,” Sho said, coughing.

“I don’t want to imagine you kissing someone, Sho-chan, it’s gross,” Nino said while leaving Sho’s room.

Nino had initiated to work from Sho’s apartment during his psychological turmoil. The apartment had two working rooms, Nino used the smaller one. He said that it was more efficient if he worked close to Sho, but Sho knew his real intention was to prevent Sho from jumping off the balcony. What a sweet guy, Sho thought.

“Nino!” Sho called when the man was about to close the door behind him.

“Take some vacation, I’ll pay the expense.”

Nino didn’t budge, he looked at Sho as if he was saying foreign language.

“You’re nuts,” he said while closing the door.

Sho chuckled and returned his attention to his computer screen, but instead of continuing his work, he browsed the best shops which provided Japanese sweets.

***

Sho drove by himself on that Monday. He had convinced Nino that he wouldn’t do something stupid like crashing the car into the bridge and it had been a while since he drove by himself. He picked Jun at the bus stop which was the closest to his place. Jun wore a nice jacket above a v-neck t-shirt, a pair of jeans and matching sneakers. Sho wondered whether Jun always read those fashion magazines to get the right clothes combination.

The man waved at him as Sho’s car approaching, he got into the car while mumbling that the air had gotten colder.

“I’ve browsed the best Japanese sweets shops, should we go there first?” Sho said, handing Jun his phone.

“You’re so well-prepared,” Jun grinned. “Let’s buy a bunch of sweets for him, I’d like to see his protesting face.”

Jun’s way of talking was very casual, now that they were outside of class, he seemed more relax.

Sho drove towards the shop and chose the sweets together with Jun. He never thought that picking sweets could be this fun; they ended up purchasing two boxes with various sweets from domyoji, mochi, dango to dorayaki.

“Ohno-san will be delighted,” Jun said as they got into the car. “Do you find his class enjoyable?” he asked Sho.

Sho nodded without really thinking; Ohno’s class had helped him handling his anxiety, either it was because of Ohno’s serene face or due to the traditional atmosphere in his class or maybe both of them.

“But I can’t create any presentable calligraphy,” Sho said.

“Don’t worry. I’ve been learning for years and my calligraphy is still on the basic level,” Jun said, chuckling.

They drove for an hour to Ohno’s place; they talked about random topic along the way, but none of them touched Sho’s political involvement. It felt like talking to someone Sho had known since a very long time; Jun was very easy to talk with and had endless topic to discuss. He told Sho that becoming a cook was his dream; he quitted his job at a hotel three years ago and opened his own cooking class. It was an ordinary class at first, but then the people with psychology problem started joining because they found that Jun’s class could help them in strange way.

“That’s how I met Ohno-san,” Jun said. “One of my students told me that I should subscribe to a group with similar interest in helping others. I met Ohno-san there, he invited me to his class for personal gateway. I didn’t enjoy calligraphy at first, but perhaps it’s because the atmosphere of the class that I end up going there on a regular basis.”

Sho could clearly picture how Ohno taught Jun, how those graceful long fingers adjusted Jun’s grip around the brush, how Ohno’s soft voice explain Jun’s phycological condition. His run of thoughts led him into something else – where Jun and Ohno lay next to each other on the tatami floor, eating each other’s face. How Ohno’s fingers traced Jun’s bare chest.

“Sho-san, we have to exit here,” Jun said from his left side.

“Oh, yes, I almost miss it,” Sho answered, confused. He pushed the signal turn button and turned left towards the high way exit.

His head still played the scene of Ohno and Jun.

Ohno was working on something when they arrived there. He welcomed them with his usual soft voice; he wore a dark kimono today with a matching obi around his waist.

“It’s a surprise to see you two,” he commented.

“You should buy a smartphone, Ohno-san,” Jun replied. “So I can inform you beforehand, I hate calling you via that classic phone.”

“Wait, you didn’t inform him beforehand?” Sho asked.

“He didn’t pick up my phone,” Jun said, rather annoyed.

“I rarely leave this house,” Ohno mumbled an answer, providing sitting cushions for both of them. “You can come anytime you like.”

“What if you have sessions that day?”

“Sho-san, it’s better not to dig too deep,” Jun said, winking at him. “Open your souvenir, we bought lots for you,” Jun gestured towards the sweet boxes on the tea table.

Ohno opened it and his face turned so bright, just like a five-year-old kid who found his favorite toy. It was the first time Sho realized that Ohno was cute. The way Ohno opened his lips when he saw the sweets had given him goosebumps. He wondered how it felt if he kissed those lips; he wondered how it felt if he gripped those fingers.

“Jun-kun, Sho-kun, thank you,” Ohno beamed.

“Sho-san browsed the best sweets for you, give him a free lesson next time,” Jun said, pouring three cups of tea for all of them. It seemed that Jun had visited Ohno dozens of time that he had become familiar with this house.

Ohno was not a talker, he basically listened to Jun’s rambling about his students which mainly consisted of middle-aged women.

“I’m not complaining, since they are the source of money,” Jun said with mouth full of mochi. “But recently, they openly tried to have an affair with me. It’s troublesome.”

“You should write it on the requirement, something like ‘no affair invitation’,” Ohno said with plain expression which made Sho laugh.

“Thanks for your kind advice,” Jun replied with sarcastic tone.

Sho and Ohno laughed as they saw Jun’s cute expression. It had been ages since Sho laughed freely like this, he always made up laughter for unfunny jokes during the political gathering. Even something like laughter must be set up according to protocol – what a stupid life.

“What do you have in your fridge?” Jun asked Ohno.

The latter shrugged and from his expression, Sho could tell that Ohno had nothing in his refrigerator.

“It’s miracle that you’re still alive,” Jun said while shaking his head. “I’ll go buy some ingredients. Do you want anything specific for lunch?”

Both Sho and Ohno shook their head.

“He loves to tease me,” Ohno mumbled as Jun disappeared.

“You two seem pretty close,” Sho commented. 

“He comes here very often, he fonds of me, I presume,” Ohno said, chuckling lightly.

They moved to the veranda while waiting for Jun to return. Since there was no electronic device in Ohno’s house, Sho killed the time by reading a book he brought with him, meanwhile Ohno was sketching something. They could hear birds chirping from the trees around the house; the sky was pale blue as the sign that summer would end soon.

Jun came back 30 minutes later with two plastic bags in each hand; he told them not to disturb him while he cooked lunch. Sho was about to help, but Ohno mumbled to him that it was better to let the man work by himself.

“He only cooks with someone else during session, he’ll be stressed out if someone storms his kitchen,” Ohno said, eyes locked on his sketching book.

“It’s your kitchen,” Sho corrected him.

“Yes, but I rarely use it,” Ohno replied.

Jun had cooked the best food for them. Sho had his bowl clean in no time, so did Ohno. Jun jokingly told them to wash the dishes which Sho and Ohno did happily. After having big lunch, Sho’s eyes became so heavy and it didn’t take that long for him to doze off.

He opened his eyes slightly hours later; Jun and Ohno weren’t there. Sho slowly pushed off himself from the tatami floor and listened to his surroundings. It was quite as usual, perhaps Ohno and Jun were having a walk nearby, he thought. But then a voice broke the silence; it was Jun’s. Sho listened carefully; the voice came from the room at the corner, right next to the classroom.

Maybe something happened to Jun; he hurriedly opened the sliding door and walked the corridor towards the room at the corner. He peeked inside, but what he saw had stopped his breaths.

Jun and Ohno, both naked; their clothes scattered on the floor and they were busily kissing each other’s skin. Sho gulped; he was dreaming, there was no way it could be real. He told himself to move, but his feet denied to budge, he kept on watching them through a crack of the sliding door. He began to feel something poked his pants as his cock hardened.

He felt as if he was trespassing someone’s room, but instead of feeling guilty, he sensed a weird excitement inside his chest. He imagined he was in Jun’s position, kissing Ohno’s lips, touching his bare skin. Sho didn’t know how long it had passed when both of them finally finished; he felt a strong urge to jerk himself off, he turned around and was about to leave when a pair of strong hands grabbed his elbow and pulled him inside.

Sho saw bare skin, but he wasn’t sure whether it was Jun’s or Ohno’s. The skillful hands unbuttoned his shirt, untied his belt, touched his hardened dick from outside of his underwear. Jun caught his lips and muted him from his pleasure groan. It wasn’t real, Sho told himself over and over; he must have imagined all of it. He didn’t need a long time to burst out – Ohno’s fingers were too good to be true.

“Do you like it, Sho-kun?” Ohno asked, flashing an innocent smile at Sho as if what they did was just another calligraphy session.

Sho couldn’t answer; he had too many mixed feelings inside his chest. It was wrong; he knew it, he shouldn’t have let himself got into this in the first place. But he enjoyed it, another voice whispered to him from the back of his head. He liked watching Jun and Ohno having sex, he liked it when they touched him, he wanted to do it again.

“Yes, I like it,” he answered with the voice he didn’t recognize.

“Good,” Jun commented, leaning closer to land a kiss on his lips.

***

It had been two weeks since that incident. Sho had tried hard to distract himself from that room by resuming his delayed works. He asked Nino to bring him the unfinished documents that he needed to review; he began replying a bunch of emails in his inbox and started reading the recent political news.

“Those classes really helped you,” Nino commented as Sho shorted the piled of documents before him.

“Mmm,” Sho hummed, not knowing what to say. The last two sessions with Jun and Ohno went as usual, he was the one who felt awkward. He was afraid that he only imagined things, perhaps Ohno’s house could lead someone to hallucinate. “Nino, maybe it’s time for me to get back to work.”

“You’re working now,” Nino replied.

“I mean return to the office, I have coped with my emotion pretty well,” Sho said. He would become more insane if he continued the sessions with Jun and Ohno at this state.

“Are you sure?” Nino raised his brows. “I don’t want you to impersonate a duck in front of the party members when you feel too much pressure.”

Sho tried not to laugh at Nino’s joke. It was time for him to return to the real life, to the real daily routine.

“Please inform Jun and Ohno-san that I end the session,” Sho said.

“Alright,” Nino noted it down on his planner. “Anything else?”

“No.”

Sho leaned deeper into his chair; it would be wiser if he chose to stay away from those two. If he let himself drown to them, it would be difficult to come ashore again.

The office looked exactly the same as when Sho left it almost two months ago. Everyone was delight that he finally came back to work. It seemed that Sho’s father had prohibited everyone from asking Sho questions regarding his absence. He headed straight to his office room with Nino behind him, greeting everyone on his behalf.

“Welcome back, Sho-chan,” Nino said as they were inside the office room. “This is your schedule for this week. You just need to make a phone call to a few officials, I guess you’re not ready yet for a face-to-face meeting right now.”

“Thanks, Nino,” Sho said, turning on his computer.

He looked outside through the glass wall; the scene he hadn’t see for some time. Tokyo’s skyscrapers lined up side by side in silence; Sho wondered what kind of topic they would discuss if they could talk. Would they complain about stupid people who kept on littering them? Or would they pass information to each other on how many people had sex on previous night?

Sho inhaled deeply; it wasn’t the right time to think about unnecessary things, he had to focus on the delayed works. The workload had brought him back to his former self; he finished reviewing a few documents before lunch break and made a few phone calls to the other party members. By three in the afternoon, Sho had made a productive progress.

Nino sneaked into his office to bring him a cup of coffee along with a piece of strawberry cake. He praised him for the productive first day at the office and jokingly told Sho that he should add more schedule for the upcoming days.

Sho left the office at six in the evening; on the way home, Nino informed him that there would be a gathering in the following two weeks.

“Our party will arrange opposition strategy,” Nino said. “They have discussed it a few times during your absence; I’ll email the details, so you can study it.”

“Okay,” Sho answered, leaning to his seat and looked at the traffic light. He recalled the day he and Jun rode together towards Ohno’s house; Jun’s deep voice had become something he missed the most recently, even though he kept on pretending that he had forgotten those days when he attended Jun and Ohno’s class.

“See you tomorrow, Sho-chan,” Nino said as they reached Sho’s apartment building.

Sho waved good bye at the man and walked towards the elevator. He hummed a random song, wondering what Jun and Ohno were doing at the moment.

***

The gathering Sho had been anticipating was held in one of the luxurious hotels in Shibuya. He had bought new suit for this event only to satisfy his father. He lined up with the other main party members to welcome the guests at the hotel lobby.

Sho had studied the details of the event; the guests list, the meeting arrangement, the members he should talk with, the renewed strategy their party had arranged and so on and so forth. He flashed the default smile to everyone and talked with them according to manual he had organized with Nino the day before. He was relief that nobody discussed his absence for more than two months following his defeat to Toma.

“We’ll work harder as the opposition party,” one of the oldest members of the party, Ogura-san told Sho while smiling optimistically. “I specifically invited a calligraphy sensei for us today. He’ll create some encouraging words for us.”

“Ca-calligraphy?” Sho confirmed. He hadn’t heard anything about the additional rundown from Nino; he would have been informed beforehand if there was any.

“Yes, it’s a surprise,” Ogura said. “Your father loves surprise.”

Sho cringed. There were always weird members inside the party and this old man was one of them. He excused himself from the man and looked for Nino. He wanted to make sure that the calligraphy sensei wasn’t Ohno. There were hundreds calligraphy experts in Japan, he told himself; there was only a slight chance that the sensei was Ohno.

He was half way to find Nino when he almost bumped someone’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Sho said, focusing his sight to the man he almost knocked.

“It’s okay, Sakurai-san.”

It was Jun in white chef uniform; his right hand was holding an empty tray – it seemed that he had just finished delivering the cooking.

“Jun?” Sho confirmed.

“I was surprised when Ninomiya-san informed me that you didn’t want to continue our session,” Jun said with a smile on his lips.

“What are you doing here?” Sho asked, pushing aside the fact that he was blushing hard now.

“Delivering dessert,” Jun shrugged.

“I need to talk with Nino,” Sho said, turning around and resuming his search for Nino. He couldn’t grasp the whole situation; someone must have done it on purpose. Did Nino know that he, Ohno, and Jun had something more than just normal cooking and calligraphy session?

Nino was on the phone when Sho finally found him at the back of the main hall. Sho waited while walking back and forth; he shouldn’t have taken everything too seriously. It didn’t mean that Jun and Ohno’s presence here would give him another dramatic defeat on his political career. He sat down on one of the reserve seats while looking across the room.

“Sorry to make you wait, Sho-chan. It was an important call,” Nino said, sitting down beside Sho. “What happened?”

“Did someone invite a calligraphy sensei without my knowledge?” Sho asked, trying to keep his voice calm. “I met Matsumoto-san as well. Is this a mere coincidence?”

Nino fixed his crooked tie before answering. “Matsumoto-san is a freelance chef, he basically takes order from high level gatherings, meanwhile the calligraphy sensei…” Nino thought for a while. “It’s a surprise for me too because it’s the last-minute notice from Ogura-san. He said that it would be nice to have encouraging phrase within our office from now on.”

“Is this Ohno-sensei?” Sho asked.

Nino nodded briefly.

Sho inhaled a deep breath and rose off of the seat.

“What’s the big deal?” Nino asked. “It seems that you don’t want him to be here.”

“I’m just wondering why nobody informed be beforehand,” Sho said, heading towards the hall.

Sho thought that by not seeing Ohno and Jun anymore, he would feel better, but he was wrong. There were nights when he dreamed of the room on the corner of Ohno’s house. There were times when he starred blankly at his kitchen, imagining Jun was there, cooking for him.

He returned to the main hall, grabbed a glass of wine from the table, and took a seat at the VIP table. He had talked to almost everyone in the party and now they were occupied by the piano sound from the corner of the room which was played by one of the party members.

“Long time no see, Sho-kun,” a voice was heard from behind him.

Sho turned to Ohno who looked fresh in his black hakama. The man walked around the table and took a seat across from Sho, his lips quirked in a soft smile.

“I should have guessed that you’re an elite politician,” Ohno commented.

“You should have asked Jun, he knows everything,” Sho answered calmly. It was just a part of another persuasion, like what he always did during the campaign.

“You look better in suit,” Ohno replied, ignoring Sho’s statement.

Sho tried not to think about that particular day, when Ohno’s graceful fingers touched him, when those lips kissed him.

“Thanks,” Sho answered briefly.

Silence fell between them; only the sound of the piano could be heard.

“We’re still waiting for you to come,” Ohno said a few minutes later. “You haven’t created the best quality calligraphy, you know,” the man added.

Sho was about to answer when Ogura appeared.

“Ohno-sensei, there you are. We’re about to start, this way, sensei,” the old man guided Ohno. He managed to give his best smile at Sho before leaving.

Sho watched from afar as Ohno started creating the calligraphy which would be hanged on the party’s office wall. Everyone was gathering around Ohno, hiding him from Sho’s vision. He couldn’t analyze how he felt at the moment – Ohno’s expression was calm as lake when he spoke to Sho. Perhaps, being isolated in an old Japanese house had changed his perception to the world around him.

Sho had no chance to talk with Ohno or Jun as the gathering came to an end. They had left the venue when Sho finally finished talking with the senior members of the party. He tried to hide his disappointment from Nino as they rode together back to his apartment. Sho didn’t know that meeting Jun and Ohno after a while would have given him this kind of feeling. He’d missed them, more than he had anticipated.

***

Ohno’s calligraphy decorated the party’s office; the beautiful kanji characters which formed the encouraging phrases somehow changed the atmosphere. Those kanji characters had given Sho goosebumps in the weirdest way possible. He could imagine perfectly how Ohno scratched the canvas with his brushes, how his face turned serious, how his eyes narrowed in concentration.

“Nino,” Sho called through intercom. “I need to talk with you.”

Nino appeared two minutes later with a questioning gaze.

“What is it?” he asked Sho lazily.

“Can you empty my schedule this weekend?” Sho asked.

Nino clicked his phone, opening the digital calendar. “You have dinner with Sakamoto-san on Sunday.”

“Cancel it,” Sho said briefly.

“We can’t just cancel it, the dinner has been planned since three weeks ago.”

“Tell him that I’m sick, tell him that I got stomachache or variola.”

Nino gave him a disgusting look.

“What is more important than having dinner with Sakamoto-san?” Nino asked.

“Private matter, just empty my schedule this weekend. You can tell them that I was attacked by deadly infectious disease. Please, Nino.”

Nino gave him a very strange look as if telling him that prioritizing private matters over professional stuff was a stupid thing. He took longer time to look at his digital calendar before giving an answer.

“Alright,” Nino finally agreed while inhaling a deep breath. “I request a full week off days as a reward.”

“You can have a month,” Sho said, grinning at the man.

“I have that recorded, Sho-chan,” he said while leaving Sho’s office.

Sho smiled at the closing door behind Nino. He started typing an email to Jun, explaining that he would be at Ohno’s house on Saturday for another calligraphy session. He implicitly invited Jun to join them if he had time.

Sho hadn’t informed Ohno about it, but considering that Ohno was always at home and had no class on weekends, so maybe there was no need to inform him beforehand.

Jun’s reply came faster than Sho thought.

‘Ohno-san will be at my apartment on Saturday. You can have your session at my place, I wouldn’t mind.’

Sho read the email; he was welcomed once again to fill the space between them. Jun sent another email which contained his address and private phone number. Perhaps Ohno was right that he needed to complete his sessions with them or he would experience another physiological problem for the long run.

Nino informed him that night that he had emptied Sho’s schedule, making up lies that Sho was bitten by a strange tropical insect during lunch break at nearby park which caused nausea and swollen face. Sho thanked the man, hoping that Nino’s lies would never become a reality.

He drove his car towards Jun’s apartment on Saturday morning. He and Jun had exchanged messages the night before; the man told Sho to come at 10 in the morning. Jun’s apartment was located in the outskirt of Minato district where they could enjoy Tokyo Bay panorama from his room. He welcomed Sho with a bright smile and gestured to him to enter the room.

Ohno was sitting on the cushion with a book on his lap; it was the first time for Sho to see the man with a pair of jersey instead of hakama or kimono. He turned at Sho and smiled at him.

“Good morning, Sho-kun,” he greeted.

“Morning,” Sho replied. “It’s nice to see you outside of that house.”

“I thought you liked my house,” Ohno said, closing the book on his lap and putting it on the table.

“I like it, if you can install internet connection,” Sho said, sitting down beside the man.

“Good to see you again,” Jun said from the kitchen. “We’ve missed you.”

Sho couldn’t help from blushing as he heard what Jun said. “Our relationship will be a hot scandal if someone finds out.”

“No problem for me, I don’t watch news,” Ohno said, leaning closer to give Sho a short kiss on his lips.

“Don’t start without me,” Jun said from the kitchen. He came a moment later with three cups of coffee.

This was far more important than having lunch with the party members, talking randomly with Jun and Ohno was more fun than the serious conversation about the party’s future.

If having a physiological problem meant he would meet two handsome man like Jun and Ohno, then Sho wished that he would never get back to normal. It was a perfect way to spend weekend; having sex, napping, eating Jun’s fresh baked cakes, having sex again and watching old DVDs with Jun’s head on his lap.

The party’s business could wait until Monday, the strategy making for the upcoming campaign could be postponed for the time being and the stupid working lunch could be done on workdays instead of weekends. It was still midnight when Sho opened his eyes; he had a dream being chased by a huge whiteboard with various agenda written on it.

He closed his eyes again; he shouldn’t think of work now, when he was nicely sandwiched between Jun and Ohno. Slowly, he drifted to sleep again, this time with a nicer dream.

THE END


End file.
